What is Absurdism in philosophy - short definition and explanation

Absurdism is a philosophical position that argues that life is essentially meaningless, that it is impossible to rationally explain why life exists, and that any attempt to unravel the essence of the universe is doomed to failure. This is not necessarily a bad thing since it liberates the human capacity to courageously live against its absurd existence. The concept of absurd is related to existential nihilism. 

According to absurdists, human suffering is the result of vain attempts by individuals to find reason or meaning in the absurd stream of existence. Absurdism as a theme of thought first appears in the writings of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, and its main proponent is Albert Camus.

 

Meaning of Absurdism for Kierkegaard

For Søren Kierkegaard the absurd (which appears for example in his Fear and Trembling) is the fact that we can never really know what we are to chose in life. The term for him is closely associated with Paradox. Kierkegaard writes in his Journals: 

"What is the Absurd? It is, as may quite easily be seen, that I, a rational being, must act in a case where my reason, my powers of reflection, tell me: you can just as well do the one thing as the other, that is to say where my reason and reflection say: you cannot act and yet here is where I have to act. 

 For an extended explanation see Kierkegaard's concept of absurd. 

 

Absurdism in Camus' Sisyphus 

For Albert Camus absurdism was exemplified by The Myth of Sisyphus who continues to push his rock up the hill even though it is bound to fall back again. The absurd of his action is what gives their lack of meaning over to human freedom. Camus does not want to argue that life is pointless. What he wishes is to be at peace with the idea that life has no real meaning and to live through it, pushing the rock up the hill. 

 

Existential nihilism - short summary

Existential nihilism is the philosophical theory that life has no intrinsic meaning or value. With respect to the universe, existential nihilism posits that a single human or even the entire human species is insignificant, without purpose and unlikely to change in the totality of existence. According to the theory, each individual is an isolated being "thrown" into the universe, barred from knowing "why", yet compelled to invent meaning. The inherent meaninglessness of life is largely explored in the philosophical school of existentialism, where one can potentially create his or her own subjective "meaning" or "purpose". Of all types of nihilism, existential nihilism gets the most literary and philosophical attention.

The idea that meaning and values are without foundation is a form of nihilism, and the existential response to that idea is noting that meaning is not "a matter of contemplative theory", but instead, "a consequence of engagement and commitment".

Jean-Paul Sartre, author of Being and Nothingness, wrote in his essay Existentialism is a Humanism, "What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world – and defines himself afterwards. If man as the existentialist sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself." Here it is made clear what is meant by Existentialists when they say meaning is "a consequence of engagement and commitment".

The theory purports to describe the human situation to create a life outlook and create meaning, which has been summarized as, "Strut, fret, and delude ourselves as we may, our lives are of no significance, and it is futile to seek or to affirm meaning where none can be found." Existential nihilists claim that, to be honest, one must face the absurdity of existence, that he/she will eventually die, and that both religion and metaphysics are simply results of the fear of death

According to Donald A. Crosby, "There is no justification for life, but also no reason not to live. Those who claim to find meaning in their lives are either dishonest or deluded. In either case, they fail to face up to the harsh reality of the human situation".

Existential nihilism has been a part of the Western intellectual tradition since the Cyrenaics, such as Hegesias of Cyrene. During the Renaissance, William Shakespeare eloquently summarized the existential nihilist's perspective through Macbeth's mindset in the end of the play. Arthur Schopenhauer, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche further expanded on these ideas, and Nietzsche, particularly, has become a major figure in existential nihilism.

The atheistic existentialist movement spread in 1940s France. Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness and Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus discussed the topic. Camus wrote further works, such as The Stranger, Caligula, The Plague, The Fall and The Rebel.  Other recent figures include Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida. In addition, Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize winning life's work "The Denial of Death", ironically published posthumously, is a collection of thoughts on existential nihilism

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Atheist existentialism - Summary

Atheist existentialism or atheistic existentialism is a kind of existentialism which strongly diverged from the Christian works of Søren Kierkegaard and has developed within the context of an atheistic worldview. The philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard provided existentialism's theoretical foundation in the 19th century. Atheist existentialism began to be recognized after the 1943 publication of Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, and Sartre later explicitly alluded to it in Existentialism is a Humanism in 1946. Sartre had previously written in the spirit of atheistic existentialism, (e.g. the novel Nausea (1938) and the short stories in his 1939 collection The Wall). Simone de Beauvoir likewise wrote from an atheist existentialist perspective. 

Thought

 The term atheistic existentialism refers to the exclusion of any transcendental, metaphysical, or religious beliefs from philosophical existentialist thought. Atheistic existentialism can nevertheless share elements (e.g. anguish or rebellion in light of human finitude and limitations) with religious existentialism, or with metaphysical existentialism (e.g. through phenomenology and Heidegger's works). Atheistic existentialism confronts death anxiety without appealing to a hope of somehow being saved by a God (and often without any appeal to supernatural salvations like reincarnation). For some thinkers, existential malaise is mostly theoretical (as it is with Jean-Paul Sartre) while others are quite affected by an existentialistic anguish (an example being Albert Camus and his discussion of the Absurd). Sartre once said "existence precedes essence". What he meant was that, first of all, man exists (e.g. appears on the scene) and only afterwards defines himself. If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be. Thus, there is no human nature, since there is no God to conceive it. Not only is man what he conceives himself to be, but he is also only what he wills himself to be after this thrust toward existence. 

Major works 

Sartre 

The novel Nausea is, in some ways, a manifesto of atheistic existentialism. Sartre deals with a dejected researcher (Antoine Roquentin) in an anonymous French town, where Roquentin becomes conscious of the fact that nature, as well as every inanimate object, are indifferent towards him and his tormented existence. Furthermore, they show themselves to be totally extraneous to any human meaning, and no human can see anything significant in them. 

Camus 

Camus writes of dualisms, between happiness and sadness, as well as life and death. In Le Mythe de Sisyphe (The Myth of Sisyphus), such dualism becomes paradoxical, because humans greatly value their existence while at the same time being aware of their mortality. Camus believes it is human nature to have difficulty reconciling these paradoxes, and indeed, he believed humankind must accept what he called "the Absurd". On the other hand, Camus is not strictly an existential atheist because the acceptance of the Absurd implies neither the existence of a god nor the nonexistence of a god. 

Despair, Optimism, and Rebellion 

In his essay “Despair, Optimism, and Rebellion”, Evan Fales submits three atheist existential stances towards life (which are not mutually incompatible). He argues that a certain dignity, and commitment to truth, is captured by Bertrand Russel when he says that “…only on the firm foundation of unyielding Despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built”. Fales believes that despair is only one possible reaction, or else component, of the atheist existentialist attitude. Fales proposes that another attitude is the Optimism of Secular Humanists: their moral systems are objective, man-made, and grounded to some extent in naturalistic facts; they derive meaning in their lives by defending those morals, and other aspects of a good life (beauty, pleasure, mastery, etc.). Fales adds that atheist optimists must be careful to avoid fatalism (not to be confused with determinism) when faced with the grimmer sides of human nature, especially in the absence of divine retribution - a task he says secular humanists realize by seeing their short life and great challenges as serving to deepen their moral obligations to make at least a small contribution. Fales also describes what he calls the optimists’ “negative thesis” when he writes “The infantilization of humankind in relation to God is one of the most disturbing features of Christian religious sensibility, especially in the context of moral judgment.” The path of optimism, to Fales, thus means affirming man-made morality, but also challenging ideologies that say morality could be anything else. Since Rebellion is practiced against something, Fales warns that the atheist is not rebelling against the God they reject, so much as an indifferent universe. Fales continues: ”But, if there is a God, and that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, then I affirm that there is one stance that is legitimate and justified. It is rebellion

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